Trip Report There's Something About Mary...and it's called DRAMA!

I think it's time to get this thing started...hoping it will help my mood and sanity levels. For those that missed the PTR (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/lawdy-lawdy-look-whos-turning-40-ptr.867181/) - the early pages should help you catch up on the bulk of the big details, and for those that missed our problems from day 1 of our trip (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/how-not-to-start-your-wdw-vacay.873853/ )...well, it kind of speaks for itself. I am going to try and keep this as upbeat as possible, but we have a very long road ahead to fix things...so, please bear with me as I vent in between some of the magic.

September 18th

I left work early on the 18th so I could pick up the girls at school and have them with us when we took our dog to get boarded. This is our Daisy Doggy...

What's really funny, the pic above was taken with Sammie's Fisher Price plastic kiddie camera!

After getting the dog situated at boarding, we went home, had some dinner, and the heavy duty packing started. I'd actually started packing my things on the 17th, but now it was time to really focus on the girls. I let them sleep in the guest bedroom that night so I could pack all of their stuff without keeping them up...i.e. so I could pack all of the surprise outfits without spoiling anything. It was A TON of packing, but I finished up around 1am. I had thought about setting up the outfits and bags in the guest room for the reveal, but Sammie got up to use the bathroom right around that time- soooooo, I decided to wait until just before the big reveal.

September 19

I guess I got close to 4.5 hours of sleep (good for the night before a travel day)...and at 6am, it was finally time to set up and reveal the big secret. I got everything set up and then DH came in to help me. The video I took is pretty awful and sleepy girls don't make for really good surprises, but this is the vid I took and I swear...they were REALLY happy.



You can all now probably appreciate what it's like getting these two up for school each morning.

Actually, the girls were super quick to get dressed once it really sunk in what was going on. They were even good with posing for pictures before hitting the road...

We loaded up my SUV and hit the road...sadly, we wouldn't get far. The accident took place about 2.5 miles from our house. I really don't want to rehash all of the scary details, but when we realized we'd all be able to walk away from this horror - we had to decide if we'd continue with this WDW trip. While the girls' initial screams and cries were from the accident itself, they morphed into cries that they wouldn't get to see their grandma and grandpa. We usually try and visit every 3 months, but we pushed it a bit longer b/c of this trip. It was for this reason DH and I decided to push forward with the trip even if the odds weren't in our favor. I guess I just figured getting everyone to "the most magical place on earth" could be therapeutic. Don't get me wrong...I love that the EMTs and lead sheriff on the scene were super lovey with the girls - they really needed something super positive...so, Disney it was!

So, after I took care of the most important initial phone calls, I got Southwest on the line (at the scene of the wreck) and started working with them to rebook the outbound flight. We were yelling over ambulance sirens and traffic, but after about 20 min, we were rebooked from our 9:15am departure to a 3:55pm departure. They also said DH could ask for a blue card for pre-board (we were now in group C after paying to be in group A on the original flight)...while it's gotten better, he had some leg pain that day and was limping from the aches. The timing also worked well since it gave me time to go to the collision center, talk to the various insurance companies, etc. My wonderful MIL was also kind enough to pick up DH and the girls from the scene. This enabled him to get his car and she was able to love on the girls for a while until we were ready to regroup and get travel plans rolling again.

While our flight out of Houston was delayed close to 3 hours due to weather and mechanical issues (not helping Kendall, who was now terrified that the plane would crash), but we got off the ground a little after 6pm and we were on our way...

Sammie sat with DH on the way to FL-- with Pooh, of course...

I had Kendall...

...and we spent the entire flight doing this big word search on her tablet.

We flew into terminal A and DME is in terminal B. It was after the girls' bed time, so we opted to just get our baggage. Soooooo, we went down to terminal A baggage and then lugged it over to DME in terminal B. Thankfully, Kendall has overcome her fear of escalators, so minus losing her shoe for a while on one of them we were in good shape.

I think the CMs manning the DME entrance could read all of the stress and worry on my face, because they promised me pixie dust and magic from that point on. We had our Magic Bands on at this point, but I had my vouchers out so in the interest of time and sanity, they just used those. They directed us to the line for AKL and while we were let on the bus right away...we were so late that the bus was accommodating a number of resorts from various lines. Still...Kendall and I wound up with this prime spot!

I swear, I got choked up when I looked up and saw the screen...like that "we're really on our way" moment.

It took a while for them to load up the bus since they were waiting on people to come in from all of these late or delayed flights, but it wasn't long before we were off.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We finally decided to start moving again…and made our way through Fantasyland. HELLLLOOOOO beloved IASW queue.

DH didn’t understand why I wanted to see the new Rapunzel bathrooms…AKA “Potty-time with Rapunzel”- LOL, but I at least got to pop in for a second. I like the lighting and the tower is obviously beautiful, but in the end- it’s a bathroom.

While we’d already ridden HM, I really wanted to ride it again during the party…with all of the party lights, smoke, and of course…Lady Renata (at least, I think that’s her name). Man is she a riot! I couldn’t get any good pics of her, but talk about entertainment.

The best part…we were in a small group hanging back just listening to her schtick when she decided she wanted to play a trick on some approaching guests. She froze until they came up to us ...they were trying to figure out what we were staring at … then she broke her freeze and startled the heck out of them. Loved it!

I tried taking some night pics around HM just because you don’t normally see it this way – some pics a bit better than others.

What was really funny about this time on the HM…the crowd in the stretching room. I think pretty much every person in that room had ridden HM so many times that we all had the spiel memorized. At first, there was just this room of people mouthing the Ghost Host’s script and then more and more people started reciting it – until nearly the whole stretching room was filled with people reciting the Ghost Host’s lines. I know this would probably bug some people, but to me, it felt like we were just one small room of Disney fans getting to have a little uncommon fun with a fave attraction.

I got to ride with Kendall this time…who was surprisingly calm…well, until the graveyard. Turns out she really likes the whole Madame Leota part, although the bride confuses her. She pinched me and was like “mommy? Why do all of the men keep disappearing from the pictures?” Oh well, she closed her eyes through the graveyard, eyes back open at the hitchhiking ghosts (found out there’s only one she doesn’t like), and then at the end, she was even quoting Little Leota. WOW!


Coming up...we make our way back towards the Castle for Celebrate the Magic, Happy Hallowishes, Villains Mix & Mingle, ride of the Headless Horseman, and Boo To You parade.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Those guys are the Cadaver Dans-I saw them at MNSSHP back in 2008 and loved them too!!

Thank you! I knew I'd heard them say their name, but I couldn't remember for anything. They were really great!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Thank you the video was quite interesting! When do we see cake?

Cake 1 is coming very soon. I'm done posting for tonight and tomorrow will be the rest of MNSSHP, but I'm hoping to get to the first cake by either Thursday or Friday.

 

[ThatBrunette]

I love it when the foolish mortals work together.

 

[disneygirl1]

Loving the updates! Can't wait to read more.... The rocking chairs out at the Kidani fire pit were a big hit with DS too! He loved rocking in them at night! LOL! I totally know the smell you are referring to in AKL's lobby! I just love it! I actaully think the sage and citrus candle Yankee candle makes smells just like the lobby! I have one in my house and everytime I light it, my DS says I must be missing the lodge! LOL! Glad to hear Mara has teh new RFID mugs. I/m just looking forward to finally getting a different colored mug! The pink, blue and black ones were getting old!

How cool is MNSSHP? One of my favorite events! Because of my work and DS football schedule we haven't been able to make a party since 2009! :-(

 

[jkl2000]

Whew! Finally caught up. Very good trip report, and as promised, lots of drama! I love the first picture of your two girls sitting on the bench together, where Sammie has her mask on. Great! I love that she wanted to be Spiderman. Spidergirl? Spidy!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aww, I love the idea of reciting. I'm always one who recites things, and annoys so many people. IT IS NOT MY FAULT YOU PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO SING ALONG TO SPLASH MOUNTAIN.

While I wouldn't want it happening every time, that night- it made it feel really fun and special. I think it also helped the girls. The want so badly to not be afraid of HM and while the first ride of this trip really got them past some fear hurdles, I think hearing all of these excited people in the stretching room allowed them to see the love a lot of people have for this ride. I did sing along once in Splash, but we were broken down for like 10 min in the Laughing Place portion and after several minutes of sitting.

I love it when the foolish mortals work together.

We even dropped our voices a couple of octaves and used the proper tonal inflection!

Loving the updates! Can't wait to read more.... The rocking chairs out at the Kidani fire pit were a big hit with DS too! He loved rocking in them at night! LOL! I totally know the smell you are referring to in AKL's lobby! I just love it! I actaully think the sage and citrus candle Yankee candle makes smells just like the lobby! I have one in my house and everytime I light it, my DS says I must be missing the lodge! LOL! Glad to hear Mara has teh new RFID mugs. I/m just looking forward to finally getting a different colored mug! The pink, blue and black ones were getting old!

How cool is MNSSHP? One of my favorite events! Because of my work and DS football schedule we haven't been able to make a party since 2009! :-(

It really has me thinking about buying some nice rockers for our back porch. We have a copper fire bowl that we sometimes use over the winter (we have a gas fireplace inside- and that's just not fun), so we may be able to duplicate some of that feeling. We'll just have to pretend the dog is a whole menagerie of exotic animals I might have to invest in that candle!

The mug colors when we were there were orange, purple and green. I guess at least the girls like it when I use them at home.

It is so hard for us to get away at this time of year because of the strict attendance laws here, but I'm sure activities will also keep us homebound on weekends as time goes on. Which reminds me- must get them back into gymnastics this weekend. I guess at least with football, you're going to see games in all of it. Just love fall and weekends of football

Whew! Finally caught up. Very good trip report, and as promised, lots of drama! I love the first picture of your two girls sitting on the bench together, where Sammie has her mask on. Great! I love that she wanted to be Spiderman. Spidergirl? Spidy!

Thanks! Yeah- it's a lot of drama...just trying to keep it all together without losing my mind. I was so happy to get that pic of the girls...especially since Sammie decided she didn't like wearing her mask. I think DH and I carried it a good chunk of the party. I recall her being fin with both Spiderman and Spidergirl. She's so funny with these things.

 

[fractal]

I think it's awesome that Sammie was Spiderman!

Funny how she wanted to go on the Dumbo spinner right after the Teacups.
Stop beating yourself up on the pictures - I think they are fine. Really like the ones of Dumbo.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I think it's awesome that Sammie was Spiderman!

Funny how she wanted to go on the Dumbo spinner right after the Teacups.
Stop beating yourself up on the pictures - I think they are fine. Really like the ones of Dumbo.

I totally agree. It reminds me of the year I wanted to be Chewbacca for Halloween.

Yeah- I was not really too happy with the bulk of the ride selection that evening. I think someone even suggested the carousel at some point - that's where I put my foot down and made them table it for a different day. And I will try and not slam my photographs too much

 

[Jessica Meier]

I totally agree. It reminds me of the year I wanted to be Chewbacca for Halloween.

Yeah- I was not really too happy with the bulk of the ride selection that evening. I think someone even suggested the carousel at some point - that's where I put my foot down and made them table it for a different day. And I will try and not slam my photographs too much

Chewie is the bomb. My fave character from SW. Our dog Peanut sounds like Chewie.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Chewie is the bomb. My fave character from SW. Our dog Peanut sounds like Chewie.

I think this was the costume...

I wish my dog made the Chewie noise. Daisy makes some crazy noises, but sadly...no Star Wars comparisons.

 

[jw24]

I wouldn't fret too much about the pics. I think they're fine. I had no idea about the Cadaver Dans at Halloween Party. It's always great to learn what makes the MNSHP so special and unique!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

First off...an update on yesterday's venting...

1. There was nothing wrong with the roof that could be found, but I'm not so sure the roofer was on the up and up. He didn't charge me for the visit- which was good, but he scared the daylights out of me by telling me our hot water heater was incorrectly installed and was leaking carbon monoxide into the house. He pinpointed the water leak issue to the a/c and recommended a friend who could handle the a/c and the water heater. Hmmmmmmm So, I checked reviews on this friend he was recommending and they were all awful. So, I decided to call a guy I should have used back in August when the downstairs thermostat went out. Not only did he handle the a/c for a reasonable price...he told me there was absolutely nothing wrong with the hot water heater + he got right back with me and was able to work me in same day.

2. For the price of $14.50, my mother in law fixed the broken toilet in the half bath. SCORE!

3. No calls back from the insurance co today...kind of frustrating. OK- very frustrating. In fact, the only calls on the vehicle today were from the service shop wondering if there's any progress...and the dealership reminding me that she's due for service. The lady was very sweet, but I had to tell her "I'd bring her in for service if she were in a state where she could be driven."

END VENT UPDATE

Back on track...

After HM, we headed back towards the hub to find a spot for fireworks and the 2nd parade. In hindsight, we probably should have picked a spot on the other side of the street just a tad farther away, but we had a curb to ourselves and all was good at this point- at least as far as we were concerned.
I mean really, it's a pretty decent view of the castle...

I got a text from dad around this point saying they were watching Illuminations, but I guess they decided to leave the park and were just watching whatever they could see from their room at the Dolphin. They were on the 15th floor, so I guess it was a decent view- but it’s still not the same without the lower effects and the soundtrack. Side note here- my dad really hates the crowds that gather come fireworks time and hates dealing with everyone getting out of the park, so even though I went to WDW bunches of times with them as a kid- we rarely saw any of the evening festivities in the parks. 2010 was the first time I ever saw fireworks in MK—even though I’d been over 20+ times.

I texted my dad back a few pics so he could see where we were seated in MK…and to also show him some of Celebrate the Magic. I can’t remember why, but I took most of these with my cell phone. To be perfectly honest, even though they give you the warning announcement, it kind of took me by surprise.

Ya know, we saw it last year the same week it debuted and I really didn’t love it, but it’s grown on me. In other words, I had a few moments where I got teary eyed...especially the Rapunzel part with the lanterns.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

After that, it was time for Happy Hallowishes. As much as I like these specialty shows in the parks, I still think the Poly beach is a better place for viewing because of the perimeter effects. I went back to my regular camera for this and I just set it on continuous mode…so some pics are better than others. It is kind of fun to flip through them though when you do this since it looks like an animated flip book. In any event, here are a whole bunch of fireworks pictures.

After the fireworks, some of the crowd cleared out and we just sat tight waiting for parade time. Kendall even stole my hat...

Poor Sammie decided to take a nap...

We were able to catch some of the villains show from where we were sitting, but definitely not close enough to “mix & mingle” post show…

It also woke up Sammie, who decided she no longer wanted to be in costume. Thankfully, she had on some leggings and a t-shirt underneath and I had her crocs in my backpack.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

The girls also went in phases of being really sleepy to wanting to pose…yes, even with me.

At some point in all of this, they started giving us instruction on how/where to sit…all in prep for the Headless Horseman. In a nutshell, he can’t see very well through his costume and the horse is a massive draft horse that could crush you should you stick a leg, arm, or child too far out into the street. So, now we at least had our boundaries.

And in the meantime, I just took a bunch of random pics looking back towards MSUSA and really wherever anything looked semi-interesting. I recall that even the moon seemed semi-interesting. Looking back on it, the lighting did give it a nice spooky feeling.

Finally, it was time for the Horseman’s ride.

The Horseman is much faster to move through the route than the parade, so unless you’re at the beginning of the parade route, there’s a bit of lag time between him and the start of Boo To You. Oh, and if your kids are like mine- they'll want to know how he's headless and doing all of this.

So, I was back to just taking pics while we waited...

Kendall catching a few zzzzzzz's before the parade...

....I think I'm going to call it a night for TR updates. I should be posting all of Boo To You tomorrow night and if I make it through that, we may even get to some cake.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I wouldn't fret too much about the pics. I think they're fine. I had no idea about the Cadaver Dans at Halloween Party. It's always great to learn what makes the MNSHP so special and unique!

Thanks! The Cadaver Dans were really great. I would have stuck around longer if the kids didn't insist on trick or treating.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Loving this!! The girl's are just too cute!!!! Glad all is good with you hot water heater and no problems!!!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Those Hallowishes firework pictures are really good!

 

[disneygirl1]

No lie Hallowishes and the Boo to you parade are my absolute favorite! The headless horseman is so AWESOME!!! I love the grave diggers too when they scrape their shovels on the ground and the sparks fly. Yes, yes I know its the little things in life that make me smile! LOL

We were just at AKL in June and I went to settlement on our new house 3 days after we got home. Talk about a worldwind! Sheesh! Anyway, point of tell you that is I looked into getting two of those rocking chairs for the front porch and holy moly those bad boys aren't cheap! LOL

My DS in 11 and is now in 6th grade, so I know the taking him out of school to go to Disney days are coming to an end. Luckily his school is pretty good with vacations during the school. They just request that he keep a journal while he is away and make up any work missed. Easy enough, but the school work is getting more intense.

We are a football LOVING household... Spend all day Saturday at the football field with DS, then come home and watch college football and Sunday;s are spent watching the Eagles. Even though they are stinking right now, got to support the home team!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Loving this!! The girl's are just too cute!!!! Glad all is good with you hot water heater and no problems!!!

Thanks Deb! I honestly had a major panic attack when the roofer told me it was poisoning us. I guess at least he didn't charge me for the house visit.